Category: Blog

Create Something Awesome Today Blog

You’ve heard it before that “consistency is the key to success” right? It’s so easy to be consistent. Set aside the same amount of time during the same time of the day and get the task done that you need to accomplish.

But…

What about those days that you wake up not feeling as though you are able to get your work done.

Not because you don’t want to get them done but because you’re remembering a conversation with your parents or a friend telling you that your aspirations are too risky or unstable.

That you’ll have to find a real job once the well that is your freelance career dries up.

That you can’t make it without the corporate ladder.

That the beaten path is beaten for a reason.

 

You remember these things once you sit down sending another query letter.

You remember these things as you look to trade out pieces of your portfolio wondering if it’s attractive enough.

You remember these things as your pipeline starts to shrink and you’re uncertain about the deals you have in place.

You remember these things… and then you get upset, unmotivated, and unsure of the talent that you’ve spent years to curate and dispense to the world who is in need of what you have to offer.

 

Have you ever been there? I certainly have.

 

What can you do about it? How do you stay productive in the face of a world that wants you to be happy doing the bare minimum; in a world that wants you to be happy doing the very same things that they’re doing and nothing more? No freedom… no deviation.

 

You must be consistently confident.

You MUST  hold the same level of confidence when work is good and you’re in your groove and when work is rocky and the future is uncertain.

During the latter your confidence will be tested the most. That’s when you need to use the negative conversations of some of those around you as fuel to succeed and do your best.

Just do it. Go out there and work your ass off KNOWING that it’ll pay off.

It will. Hard work always pays off. Always.

When things are good — KEEP GOING.

When things are cloudy — KEEP GOING.

Just KEEP GOING. No matter what.

Just recently, Seth Godin was back on the #AskGaryVee show. One phrase he said in passing has prompted this blog post, generated enormous value, and will be the the central purpose behind every blog post on the Create Something Awesome Today website from here on out.

One phrase. 4 seconds.

That’s all it took.

Remember a couple of blog posts back when I was talking about my mantra — What We Leave is Our Legacy? Well Seth has provided a deeper insight into that philosophy and has directly attached it to writing.

Simply put, he said “I try to blog or write every day as if it were my last.”

After watching the show, I went to sethgodin.com.

Clicked on his head.

(…yes, really.)

…and voila!

What was revealed to me was an anecdote, a thought, a tid bit, a piece of information every single day.

They weren’t long.

In fact, most of them were just over 100 words.

That’s it. 100 words.

One small blog post each and every day.


 

baseball at batIf you wanted to become the best player to ever wield a baseball bat, what would you need to do? Practice every day would be the obvious answer.

However, when you’re in the batting cages is your goal to hit a home run with every swing? Or is it to hit the ball with every swing? While we’d like to hit a home run every time we are at bat, the single most important thing you can do for your team to succeed is to simply get a base hit.

That’s all.

Hit the ball and land safely on first base. With enough base hits, you’ll score the points you need to win the game.

Now go get a base hit.

…and more importantly go get a base hit tomorrow, also.

Before you know it you’ll have won the game.

Tell me how you plan on creating small wins each and every day. Tweet me @erickhoxter or leave a comment below!

Are You Making This Mistake When Pitching to Prospects?

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The worst time to pitch to potential prospects is when you need a new client. That’s mistake #1.

No, not the prospecting…

The needing. That’s the mistake.

Let’s get one thing straight: You don’t need anyone. People want you. People want what you have. People want what you’re offering.

It’s not just a mindset, it’s the truth. If you’re reading this blog chances are you’re a graphic designer, a photographer, a writer, or some kind of solo entrepreneur.

According to the Small Business Association, there are 27 million businesses in the US. All of whom need a service that you can provide.

Three weeks ago, I walked into ACME on an empty stomach. The shopping list was simple:

  • Fruit
  • Veggies
  • Almond milk
  • Rice
  • Thin sliced chicken breasts
  • …and a few other items that I can’t seem to remember

Those items ended up in my shopping cart because I needed them…

and then I walked by the Hot-n-Ready section… I salivated at the greasy fried foods.

I was dieting.

I was budgeting.

I did not care.

The fried chicken didn’t stand a chance. By the time I walked in the door all that was left were the bones.

I was ashamed.

I wasted the time I had spent dieting, the money that could have went to something more useful(or healthy), and most importantly I regretted every irreversible action between grabbing the chicken, checking out at the register, and eating it on the way home. I knew it was something I shouldn’t have done but caved because I was shopping on an empty stomach.

You shouldn’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach because of the regrettable ramifications… You shouldn’t approach prospects when the landlord just knocked on your door to collect the rent money that you don’t have. Your proposals will come off pushy, arrogant, annoying, and 98% of your proposals will be rejected.

Organization & strategy begets success. Tweet that out!

Just like when you’re grocery shopping, you’ll want to organize your method of approach when calling, emailing, or speaking to your prospects.

Learn how to systematize the process here.

 

 

 

 

What we leave is our legacy.

One of my favorite sayings.

When our time comes and we’re buried in the cold & lonely soil, what will those who’ve come to gather have to say? Positively or negatively, the end of your life will have had an effect on those closest to you as well as those around the world.

There are no do-overs and you’ll never know when your last goodbye will be…

You see, death has given me a reality check so big that I was forced to live the life that I want.

Allow me to explain…

My father was an absent parent throughout the most crucial years of my life. The only things I knew about him were health issues, excuses, and his love for his advertising and promotions company.

9 months after his 60th birthday he was in the hospital…again. Having not been around him for years I expected to be stone cold, emotionally. However, the moment I saw him on the bed, I crashed and wept. I left the room and wept for a man I didn’t really know too well for the majority of my life.

After his passing and the service I became reflective on any good things that I could remember. What I remember about him can be broken down into three things that have helped me as I develop personally and professionally and will help you as you imagine what people will remember about you when your time comes.

  1. Hustle. My father took a handful of pills and two shots every day and couldn’t even wear regular fit clothes. Despite that, he drove a 1990 Stanza with over 300,000 miles to school districts, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations pitching fundraiser ideas. He poured more money into that car than it was worth until the early 2000’s. He took action doing the things that he wanted. Despite his poor health, he made hundreds of thousands of dollars on his own doing what he loved. Nothing else mattered.
  2. Determination. We saw our father the most when we were younger. When he came over he and I would go over homework and play chess. Most of the time I never got to finish my homework because his thirst for knowledge and dedication to education meant reading the instructions, verbally defining the unorthodox words. If the definition wasn’t known, we would look up that definition in “The $40 Dictionary” (that name was given to the dictionary so we’d know the investment made on the dictionary was not to be taken for granted). If we didn’t know all of the words in the definition given we would look up that word and so on and so forth. It was tedious and digressive, however it was done for a point. That point is to better those around you
  3. Stubbornness. It’s one thing to have determination, but the will to never back down from the best is an entirely different thing. I remember playing chess with my father when I was maybe 7 or 8. I would play an absolutely disgusting blunder and I was forced to go back and verbally analyze the position and find a better move. Or sometimes he would turn the board around and I had to verbally analyze the position from the other perspective.

“The will to be great takes nothing short of a virtually irrational stubbornness.” – Tweet this quote!

We are all connected. The impact you have on another individual’s life will have an impact on another individual’s life which will then have an impact on another individual’s life. You live on in the actions that you took.

That is why it is important to understand that your dreams, your goals, your aspirations, your questions, and your passions cannot wait until tomorrow. How will you live today? How will the world be better off because you have lived? How much better will you feel having done the things in life that you’ve always wanted to do wanted to do?

Go Create Something Awesome Today… the world depends on it. You depend on it.

Tweet @erickhoxter

Last Saturday, I was spaced out in front of my computer for hours. I sat there caught between a rock and a hard place.

Youtube… or Facebook…

Whilst scrolling for new YouTube videos I found myself tabbing over to Facebook, closing out of Facebook, and opening a new tab for Facebook.

Facebook eventually won.

While scanning the posts of my friends, I stop at one that struck me as particularly interesting.

It reads:

“Met so many awesome people at XYZEventCon this past weekend. At least 7 of them want to hire me on to give lessons and a keynote to their organization.”

“Wow” I tell myself. “They’re really making it happen. Why the hell am I still sitting on my idea?”

As my blood starts to warm and the jitters crawl through my body, I head to YouTube and watch a video of some of my favorite marketing figures getting the job done and teaching their network of 100,000+ subscribers exactly what they need to do to get the job done.

Now I’m motivated. So motivated that I’m walking around the house juggling the 3 ideas I have in my mind trying to decide which to act on first.

Minutes pass…hours pass…

I get one thing accomplished before being sucked back into the Facebook and YouTube distractions.

Does this sound familiar?

Today, I’m going to give you a step by step process to getting your idea off of the ground that’s so simple you won’t even spend enough time to get distracted and upset at yourself.

Let’s prepare your awesome idea for the market using the I.C.E. method.

First things first, identify your idea in detail.

This is going to be the longest part of the process. You may think you know what your idea is but if you can’t

  • Pitch it or tell someone what it is or what it accomplishes for your customer in under 30 seconds. (Click here to learn more about your pitch.)
  • Identify your target market like the back of your hand
  • Write down what you hope to accomplish with your idea

you won’t have any idea what steps to take.

Being able to write down and verbalize the purpose and the goals of your idea will give you direction each and every day. In fact, I recite or look at my original mission statement for a small chess coaching and consulting company I run on almost a daily basis.

My recommendation, and what I did when I finally got serious about my endeavor, is to

  1. turn off your computer, television, and your phone.
  2. Grab some real estate (whether it’s your dining room table, your office, or a coffee shop) with a pencil and notebook
  3. Write out and identify the following:
    • What is it that you wish to do?
    • Who is your ideal client/customer?
    • What social media platforms are you most comfortable with AND what platforms are your clients using the most (search popular related hashtags or search Google)?
    • How will your client benefit from using your product or service?
    • What makes your idea unique?

Start with those, and whenever you go to create a piece of content, pitch your idea to an investor or prospect, or have a casual conversation about your idea you’ll be able to talk about it with confidence to others.With yourself, you’ll be able to always have an understanding, even if a vague one, of which direction you should be moving in.

Figure out how you’re going to create your content. Once you get started, this is an everlasting endeavor.

Delivering valuable content will serve as the pulse of your business. It’s what builds trust, reliability, and momentum for your idea or business. – Tweet this!

Content is a way for you to create conversation about your idea; a way to provide value to others interested in your idea. Developing a specific content strategy is part of the marketing of your idea that can make or break (…or maybe just delay) your success.

Much like in my previous point, it’s important to consider what platforms those interested in your hobby are using the most just as much as it is to identify which ones you are already comfortable and skilled in using.

A few questions to consider:

  • Do you like to blog or vlog?
  • What are the benefits and drawbacks of creating micro content videos (Instagram, Vine, Snapchat) vs having control of length and the best search engine (YouTube)?
  • Can I do both?
  • How much time can I allocate to content creation?

Lastly, if you ever expect to make any money by turning your idea into a business, OR even if you simply want to keep the successfully built traction of your hobby you must engage your audience.

Engaging is a concept that needs to accomplish two things.

First, it builds trust. When you create a blog or video and someone leaves a comment, it means so much to them when you take time out to read and respond to what they say. Surprisingly, it is still a concept that is done so infrequently that most are thrown off guard and become appreciative that you even acknowledge their existence.

Second, it positions you as an authority. You’re not only writing or recording some prepared content, but you’re answering questions as they come, on the fly, in order to help those who need the answer whether or not the question is related to the topic you’ve prepared.

You should simply want to engage with those who enjoy your content. It’s a win-win scenario if you are truly passionate about the awesome idea and sub-ideas that you’re discussing.

Now engage also has one more meaning. For you, this is a very important one. If you’ve listened to nothing else regarding content creation, listen to this.

Your posts must engage your audience to take some kind of action. Each post or video should have a call to action. 

Whether it’s suggesting they…

  • leave a comment
  • like your video or post
  • download an ebook you’ve prepared
  • click a link to a website
  • sign up for your email newsletter

or what have you, there must be some kind of direction inside each piece of content. It gives your reader/listener/viewer something to do in order to get more information while simultaneously setting you up to be a go-to resource for the subject that the individual is interested in. This, in turn, increases the amount of individuals who will visit your content time and time again as you produce more of it.

When you read comments like in the story I made up earlier about a friend was invited to give a keynote you’ll realize that it didn’t happen by accident. He used the strategies that I talked about today to:

  • position himself as a subject matter expert
  • become an active and accessible professional in his field
  • build a business out of his ideas and passions that others had interest in
  • use his skills and passions to make money doing what it is he enjoys the most
  • Create Awesome for others

Try following the I.C.E. method for any one of your future business ideas that you’re having trouble acting upon.

To recap this post…

Identify your idea. Cut out all technology distractions and with an old fashioned pen and paper write out your idea in detail.

Create your content strategy. Find which platforms you’re most comfortable with and are skilled in using; cross research those platforms that are most used by your potential readers/listeners/viewers (by searching hashtags and utilizing search engines such as Google/Youtube). Finally, find a happy medium of at least 2-3 platforms that you’ll use to deliver your content.

Engage your audience. When you begin putting out content be sure to allocate time to responding to comments within 1-2 days. Also, each post should have some kind of call to action embedded in your post in order to engage your audience further.

Let me know how this post has helped you Create Something Awesome Today with a comment below or a tweet to @erickhoxter.

Adversity; we’ve all been there — who hasn’t?

Sometimes it becomes tough to believe in anything positive. When feeling hopeless how can you possibly take that feeling and really Create Awesome?

Well, let’s talk about a few:

  1. Get around some positive people. Your surroundings mean so much when trying to Create Awesome, when you’re trying to get out of the funk, when you’re trying to get rolling again. Get around some people who will not just tell you that everything is okay but also be a support system for when you do have those ideas to act on.
  2. Go on a quiet walk. And more importantly, while on that walk bring along some positive affirmations. This takes effort! It will feel silly, but you must talk to yourself. Tell yourself: “I can do it!”, “I am worth it!”, “I am going to make it!”. Say it with conviction! Even if it’s fake at first keep doing it! Just keep doing it! Then, sit in silence. Whether you’re in a park or on a trial with the beautiful fall leaves & crisp air, just sit there and take in the beautiful surroundings. Take it in and know that everything is going to be alright! Because it will be alright.
  3. Just Create Awesome. Do something. Whether it’s for your own passions and ideas or for someone else. Doing tasks that propel you forward in the direction of your ambitions will make you feel amazing. Celebrate each and every success. Be happy about it, no matter how small, it is worth being joyous about. Create Awesome for others. Those moments will also make you feel good. To help others is to help yourself and to help yourself is to help others.

Create Awesome and adversity will soon become Awesome. Just keep the positive affirmations and the positive company and your life will become awesome again. Just dedicate yourself  to that which you care about the most and keep moving forward!

One of the things that many creatives who fly solo struggle with is meeting deadlines, even if this comes to their personal goals. Execution is important, but being timely is a real concern. 80% on time will always be better than 100% late. When you are freelancing, one of the pitfalls is a lack of accountability. You don’t have someone you are directly answerable to.

A way around this is to find Accountability Partners. These are others you can share your goals with, while not worrying about jeopardizing your business. Typically these will be close friends, family or colleagues.

Create Awesome Challenge #1

Find your Accountability Partners. Find people who you can trust and who will help you stay on task. They are not just supposed to give you reminders about your deadlines, but genuinely inquire as to the progress and help you move forward if you’re stuck. You also have to be willing and able to do the same for them in return.

Ideally you will want to have 3-4 Accountability partners, so that you can always be sure there will be someone to rake you over the coals if you drop the ball. This will help you stay focused and build more discipline if that is something you struggle with.

If there is something else you are struggling with, let me know in the comments section or feel free to twee at me @robertoblake.

Creativity can be difficult for any graphic designer, but when you work exclusively in one industry it can be even more challenging. I’ve been working solely within the Pet Industry for over 20 months, and I’ve learned that I need to replenish my creative spirit frequently to stay engaged and creative. I love my niche graphic design business, but that doesn’t mean that your creative batteries can’t be drained by something you enjoy. So here are my top 5 tips for staying creative in your niche.

 

  1. Study Your Niche

 

Look at what’s popular or common for graphic design in your niche through searching online. This may sound counterintuitive since you want to be creative and not mimic others. But I find looking at current industry trends makes me think of how that concept could be better executed or a different concept that might communicate the same thing. Sometimes putting yourself in a box can make you far more creative in trying to work out of it.

 

  1. Experience Your Niche

 

Nothing beats real life experience in understanding your niche and staying inspired in it. Since my niche is the pet industry, I take time to play with my dog or do some other activity with him. Refreshing my mind with the experience and emotions of those activities reminds me what I’m trying to convey to my client’s target markets. If your niche was the food industry, go out to eat somewhere that you really enjoy the food, or try out a new place. If you can’t take that time, watch some videos on YouTube. Whatever industry, take some time to immerse yourself in it and write down your experience and feelings.

 

  1. Consume Things that Evoke Similar Emotions to Your Niche

 

I find this super helpful. For example, when I was working on a playful logo for a pet groomer I found a lot of inspiration from watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I’m not a huge fan of the show, but it’s animated well and conveys the messages that my client’s target market would respond to. No judgement. Inspiration can come from anywhere!

 

  1. Do Projects Outside Your Niche

 

No matter how much you love something, it can feel a bit stale after a while. By doing projects outside of your niche from time to time you can remember why you love the one you’re in. I try to regularly do things for my fellow designers as my outside of niche projects. I feel good helping others and it’s a productive break. After I spend a while thinking with my business person/niche graphic designer brain I love coming back to my “I love pets” brain.

 

  1.  Interact with People in Your Niche

 

Chatting with pet business owners, learning about their challenges and priorities gives me a clearer picture of their perspective. While we design for their target market, understanding the day in & day out of the businesses we work with gives us an additional dimension of understanding. This may not garner inspiration for everyone but the more I understand the types of businesses I work with, the easier it is to solve whatever problem they need fixing. To me design is one way of solving problems in business. One that can be quite effective if the problem is well understood.

 

I hope this tips will help you with staying creative in your niche. Still struggling or just want to chat? Feel free to reach out to me on my website or on my social media channels in the author description below. Talk to you soon, and remember it’s good to go niche!

You would think someone who graduated 8 years ago with a Bachelor’s in Visual Communications (Graphic Design) would be well on their way to being an accomplished graphic designer working for a big agency, in-house designer for a Fortune 500 company or even running a successful freelance business. Well that is not the case for me and many others like me that came out of design school ready to make the world a more attractive place.

 

 Reality quickly set in for me when I discovered how darn competitive and saturated the graphic design industry was. I had no clue coming out of school it would be like this and from talking to my fellow school mates neither did they. To add salt to the wound the globalization and the emergence of crowdsourcing, contest sites and other online sweatshops, things are harder than ever.

 

 Like many graduates I felt overwhelmed with such limited opportunities and because the economy was going through a recession these jobs were really hard to come by. With no success I decided to explore other avenues outside of graphic design. I can’t blame everything on the economy or the job market I also lacked confidence needed to compete with the rest of these job seekers. I always told myself I would jump back on the horse as soon as the right opportunity came by but the only thing that came by was the years and the student loan bills.

 

 I continued to take on a few side projects a month to soothe my creative and artistic itch but the older I got the more uneasy I felt about the fact that I am was not doing what I love and that is what my graphic design mentor Roberto Blake coined “Create Awesome”.  Although my dream is to some day run my own design practice the important thing right now is to do what I love. It’s either continue to work towards my dream or possibly live a life of regret. I have children and I always tell them to follow their dreams and I no longer want to feel like a hypocrite so it is important that I lead by example. My advice to anyone pursuing a career in graphic design is only do it if you love it because this is no place for someone who just want’s to make a living doing pretty things.

 

 To be a successful graphic designer in this day in age means being a sales oriented creative and business-minded which are many of the things traditional graphic designers dread and why they decided to pursue a creative career in the first place.

 

It is important to keep working on your craft and don’t expect a degree to move you towards the front of the line because in this field those hiring graphic designers only care about your ability to produce results but there are many that can produce results as well so you have to differentiate yourself even further.

 

 If you want to stand out from other job seekers you better be dynamic and bring more to the table than just good design. With so many applying for these few graphic design openings it is only natural they’re going to hire the most versatile applicants.

 

 Graphic designers need to learn marketing not just to add this to their resume of skills and impress potential employers but to market themselves. Marketing for graphic designers is no longer just for freelancers and those that run their own practice but a way to stand out from the rest of the applicants. It shows employers that you are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and a go getter along with confidence and leadership.

 

 Resumes and even portfolios only give you a small look into what a person can do and who they are so companies, agencies and clients are looking for that edge and filter the mass amount of applicants. Naturally those that are more active in the field by using platforms like social media, youtube videos, blogs, podcasts, etc. will stand out more than the mysterious applicant on a piece of paper. This is the way the world is moving whether we like it or not, or whether we think it’s right or wrong. In a saturated field like graphic design you better stand out or be left behind.

 

 

 

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